Fowler played phenomenal. I'll refrain from predicting that he'll do his normal shitting of the bed between now and Sunday, because I'd really like to see the kid get off the schneid.
Paul Casey... loves the layout, says it has a British Open look and feel to it. Made a lot of great golf swings today, seems like he feels right at home. Not to mention - the Kobe beef and sausages are a helluva lot more palatable in Wisconsin than they are in the UK. I know this from personal experience...
And although there were a lot of other good rounds, numerous good rounds played by young and old alike, too many to mention really... I mean, it was easily the most forgiving, benign US Open setup these guys have ever played, despite it being monstrously long. We're talking 50+ yards wide fairways, hardly no wind to think of, incredibly receptive fairways and greens. An astounding 39 players shot under-par.
But something dangerously odd happened this afternoon too, which has to be a first for a US Open (or perhaps any golf tournament). Although thankfully it didn't rank up there with the Hindenburg, an advertising blimp nevertheless experienced mechanical problems, caught fire and plummeted to the ground, and within seconds exploded. Witnesses swore they saw the pilot jump out of the doomed aircraft with a parachute, but those accounts were wrong it turns out. The pilot went down with his ship, and was rescued just prior to it going up in flames. The latest report as of this evening is that he is in the hospital and expected to recover.
And I gave that story next-to-last, because it dovetails fairly accurately with the crashing and burning of Golf's Big Four Thursday. Between a two-way miss and lousy putting, Spieth managed to turn what should've been no worse than a 68 into a 73. Dustin Johnson, Rory, and Jason Day need to be put on Lyme disease alert this evening, after struggling with two-way misses and spending most of the day with the ticks and chiggers whilst whacking away in waist-high fescue. Only 8 players shot a higher score than Rory (+6). Only 4 players shot a higher score than Day, one being an amateur, the other being what appears to be a one-hit wonder in Danny Willett.
The bomb-and-gougers got gouged pretty hard today. Shame on you, boys. You guys had airfields for landing targets, which tells me that you guys had to be missing your lines by a good 20-30 yards. And no wind! And soft fairways! But you guys keep swinging for the bleachers with driver.
As my momma always says, that'll learn ya.